Asteroid 7 Iris

7 Iris is a large main-belt asteroid located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It orbits the Sun once every 3.68 Earth years. It was discovered on August 13, 1847 by John Russell Hind and is named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow. Iris has a diameter of approximately 200 kilometers and is irregularly shaped, with a rotation period of about 7.1 hours. In 2007, the European Space Agency launched the Rosetta spacecraft, which passed within 5 million kilometers of Iris and obtained detailed measurements of its surface. These observations, together with ground-based radar observations, revealed that Iris has a highly elongated shape and provided important insights into its rotational dynamics. The study of Iris and its family of asteroids has provided important insights into the formation and evolution of the asteroid belt and the early solar system.

Asteroid 7 Iris is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 7 Iris is 13h 53m 54s and the Declination is -16° 03’ 50” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current magnitude of Asteroid 7 Iris is 10.44 (JPL).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 7 Iris from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Asteroid 7 Iris?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Asteroid 7 Iris from Earth?)
• When does Asteroid 7 Iris rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Asteroid 7 Iris?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Asteroid 7 Iris orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Asteroid 7 Iris with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• Physical data. Detailed information about physical properties of Asteroid 7 Iris, such as mass and geometric properties.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Asteroid 7 Iris for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Asteroid 7 Iris in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Asteroid 7 Iris with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 7 Iris is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Asteroid 7 Iris?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 7 Iris in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Asteroid 7 Iris Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 7 Iris from Earth is currently 320,700,930 kilometers, equivalent to 2.143753 Astronomical Units. Light takes 17 minutes and 49.7432 seconds to travel from Asteroid 7 Iris and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 7 Iris from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 7 Iris from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Asteroid 7 Iris to Earth

Between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Asteroid 7 Iris to Earth happens on Sat Nov 8 1947 at a distance of 0.846460 Astronomical Units, or 126,628,540 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Asteroid 7 Iris Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 7 Iris, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Visualization of Asteroid 7 Iris Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 7 Iris with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 7 Iris and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Asteroid 7 Iris 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 7 Iris computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 7 Iris in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Jun 03	13h 56m 30s	-16° 34’ 59”	10.30	Virgo
2023 Jun 04	13h 56m 04s	-16° 30’ 14”	10.32	Virgo
2023 Jun 05	13h 55m 40s	-16° 25’ 35”	10.34	Virgo
2023 Jun 06	13h 55m 15s	-16° 21’ 03”	10.36	Virgo
2023 Jun 07	13h 54m 53s	-16° 16’ 38”	10.38	Virgo
2023 Jun 08	13h 54m 33s	-16° 12’ 20”	10.40	Virgo
2023 Jun 09	13h 54m 14s	-16° 08’ 11”	10.42	Virgo
2023 Jun 10	13h 53m 56s	-16° 04’ 08”	10.44	Virgo
2023 Jun 11	13h 53m 39s	-16° 00’ 12”	10.46	Virgo
2023 Jun 12	13h 53m 25s	-15° 56’ 26”	10.48	Virgo
2023 Jun 13	13h 53m 11s	-15° 52’ 45”	10.50	Virgo
2023 Jun 14	13h 52m 59s	-15° 49’ 14”	10.52	Virgo
2023 Jun 15	13h 52m 48s	-15° 45’ 50”	10.53	Virgo
2023 Jun 16	13h 52m 38s	-15° 42’ 33”	10.55	Virgo